1.14 



SPOLTA ZHYr-ANICA. 



The indigenous species obtained by Dr. Uzel are Piutellus 

 Kzeli, n.sp., and Pheretima Uiprohance (Beddard), while Perionyx 

 cei/lanensis, n.sp., is called doubtfully endemic, being closely 

 allied to a species, P. sansiharicvs, from Zanzibar. 



3, RhyncJiuta of Ceylon. — The order of insects which contains the 

 bugs is called Rhynchota on account of the structure of the mouth- 

 parts, which have the form of a jointed suctorial rostrum formed 

 by the labium, the mandibles, and the maxillae, modified to form 

 a stylet or piercing organ which is carried bent back under the body 

 when not in use. By means of their stylet these insects are 

 enabled to perforate the epidermis and suck the juices from 

 berries and young shoots. Some are carnivorous, preying upon 

 other insects, and some are ectoparasitic. In mode of life most 

 are terrestrial ; a few families are aquatic, and there is a group of 

 pelagic Rhynchota which skim over the surf9,ce of the high seas. 



The term Hemiptera, referring to the half-coriaceous, half- 

 membranous texture of the wings in many of the families, was 

 formerly applied to the order of bugs, but the name is now super- 

 seded by the more comprehensive one Rhynchota, the character 

 of the mouth-parts being of fundamental importance in classifica- 

 tion throughout the animal kingdom. 



The Rhynchota are divided into two principal sub-orders : the 

 Heteroptera, in which the anterior wings are folded flat upon the 

 back and present a different texture in the basal and apical areas ; 

 secondly, the Homoptera, where the wings meet along their inner 

 edges, covering the body like a roof, tlieir texture being commonly 

 homogeneous. 



There are some twenty-five familiesof Heteroptera, of which only 

 the first three are dealt with by Mr. W. L. Distant in the first 

 volume on the Rhynchota-Heteroptera of British India, published 

 in 1902 (Fauna of British India. London, Taylor & Francis). 



Statistics relating to the three families referred to are given in 

 the subjoined table : — 



